The United Way of Northeast Mississippi has announced its 2014 distribution of funds to agencies that serve Union County and it is not good news. The $60,525 being distributed in 2014 to 24 agencies is down more than 20 percent from the $77,405 distributed to 30 agencies in the current year. Robin Matkin, campaign and […]

The Union County Development Association is attempting to revive attendance at and interest in its annual meeting with a new wrinkle or two this year. After several years without having a dinner with the event, the association will hold a dinner meeting Monday evening in the New Albany Middle School cafeteria. And the committee that […]

A friend mentioned to me the other day that he only gets his mail out of the box once a week. I was a little surprised because it’s something I do every day. I just supposed everyone did. In fact, “getting the mail” is a chore I have looked forward to ever since I was […]

Bicycle season is here and the Tanglefoot Trail already is getting lots of use, much of it from visitors from out of town who have heard that the 44-mile trail has officially opened. Last Saturday we saw visitors with their bicycles and helmets on our downtown streets, reminding us that it’s time to move ahead […]

The Mississippi Legislature has adopted a bill that designates State Highway 30 West from New Albany to the Lafayette County line as the “William Faulkner Memorial Highway.” The plan, which is awaiting Gov. Phil Bryant’s signature to become law, was hurriedly attached to another bill in the waning days of the legislative session. We think […]

Standing in the garage and looking at the stacks of boxes piled high, I was thinking about how changing jobs is going to be hard work for our son Joe and me. And we’re not the ones making a change. Much of the stuff in the garage is left over from when Jenny taught second […]

Every once in a while something happens that defies explanation. The decision by the Mississippi House at the end of the legislative session to let die a bill it already had passed to ban texting while driving is one of them. One day after going on record 104-16 to ban texting while driving, the House […]

The effort to expand the Union County Heritage Museum got a major boost this week when the Mississippi Legislature agreed to provide $500,000 to help pay for the project. The money, part of a $200 million statewide bond bill, would pay a little more than one-third of the cost of the project that will more […]

March used to be one of my favorite months. By mid-March, Jenny and I would be out on the patio sitting in our swivel rockers and “surveying our kingdom.” That’s our euphemism for admiring the new growth on the flowers and shrubs, watching the birds at the backyard feeders and soaking up the warmth from […]

The Mississippi Legislature has taken two small steps to bolster public education in our state. In the current session, legislators agreed to increase funding by $10 million over the current year for local school districts under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program formula. That is still $255 million short of the funding required for the legislature […]